In a move that will annoy just about every Xbox 360 gamer on the planet Microsoft has started adding auto-play adverts with sound to the Xbox 360 dashboard.

As you can see in the video above the advert plays automatically when the tile comes into focus and continues to play when it loses focus, but without the sound. Those with an Xbox Live Gold Membership aren’t immune to these adverts so that $50 you pay a year means nothing, you still get to see the adverts.

I think everything about the introduction of adverts to the console is wrong. I have paid hundreds of dollars for the console, I then pay for every game I play, and I pay for a Gold membership every year too. I shouldn’t have adverts downloading and appearing on my 360.

Some people will argue that we already see adverts on TV, before films, and even with cable subscriptions. But I see this differently. With a games machine you are paying multiple times for the content. You buy the console, your buy the games, and you optionally subscribe. You also pay $50+ for a new game which is significantly higher than you pay for any film.

Reader Comments

Levi

I agree completely. We are already paying for this system to operate, and are you telling me that microsoft is having trouble generating a profit? This system was fine with the ingame adverts that dont annoy, they dont need to add them to the operating system of the console.

regulas

Blaaaa Haaaaa haaaa, LOL, crapbox 360 owners, MS owns you.

Salty

This blows. If the Live service was free it would be one thing, but this is just piling on the garbage. FU M$!

Matthew

While this is terrible, it goes to show the dangers of a monopoly. Wii and PS3 owners can point and laugh all they want (it’s certainly well-deserved here), but the fact remains that until Nintendo and Sony catch up in the online gaming department, Microsoft can continue to get away with this.

Unfortunately, the only ones seeing these ads will be paying customers. Very few Xbox Live Silver members (connected, but not “authorized” to play online) remain connected all the time like Xbox Live Gold members, since they have no need to be online for anything other than downloading arcade titles/DLC. So the only people truly affected are the paying customers–pissing them off is definitely not the smartest idea.

Gracklaw

since the NXE I’ve seen maybe 1 of those kinds of ad. I didn’t even know it was an ad because it blended in so well. it wasn’t intrusive at all. and if I remember correctly it was when they were advertising the car they were giving away to 1 vs 100 players

@regulas
I love my xbox. at this point I don’t think I can live somewhere without having it there. my friends and I still have lanparty sessions with our xbox360s (used to be PC). lol, I remember when we used to packup our PCs and monitors in shopping carts and head to the winner of the coin toss house.
whether there are adds there are not I don’t think that will take away from the fun we have with our system….plus the ability to invite friends to watch is video is more than welcomed. plus as I said, the ads are not the “in your face” type, you can move away from it, you’re not stuck watching it.

xBIOxCircuitry

shouldnt xbox live be free, now that there getting all that money from advertisements.there sponcers now

http://arghyle.com Sal Cangeloso

This is pretty sad to see. The dashboard is already so filled with useless crap that I can’t remove, throwing advertisements into the mix will just make things worse. As people already pointed out, I’m already paying for xbl gold membership- make the silver members see the ads (if anyone).

Gracklaw

wiat wait, sal…name 2 “useless crap” that you would like to remove from the dashboard. none of us knows where the ads will show up, we don’t know if they will be in all the categories or just a 1 or 2..”inside xbox” and “marketplace” seems like good places to put ads if anywhere.

Also, mathew: “With a games machine you are paying multiple times for the content.” no, this statement is wrong, which content do you pay for multiple times? let me clear up something for you: pay multiple times for something means you pay for it, and then you pay for it again. paying for the console then paying for the game is not paying for the same thing, same goes for live, netflix or the other services.

Matthew

@Gracklaw:
“Useless crap”? Okay, the entire “Spotlight” tab is a breeding ground for ads. That’s all fine and dandy, but it’s the default tab when connecting to Xbox Live. There is, almost a year after the initial NXE update, still no way to change this. Do I really need ads in up to four locations (Spotlight–forced, Inside Xbox, Marketplace–the only “okay” place in my opinion, and even multiplayer) in a service I’m paying for?

Gracklaw

the thing is you really have no idea where the ads will show up so for you to have already gotten your panties in a knot is sort of useless in itself and premature. I for one have no problems with the default being spotlight or inside xbox…I usually go check whats going on in inside xbox anyway….this is the first place I saw the 1vs100 and since then my family and I always play it, its a nice family trivia game.

also none of the ads are forced.

Montopolis

I think this would be comparable to having ad placed in my folders backgrounds on Windows, I scroll trough My Pictures and in between pics theres a Burger King ad, but I keep scrolling as if it was nothing. I think it’s wrong for Xbox360 users, especially for Gold members, to have to see ads. I don’t get any commercials on HBO, why should I get them on my X-box 360? We have ads IN the games already; I guess MS want some of that ad money too. Can’t say it’s not a brilliant idea though, but we already have to pay for Xbox Live and a system. Sony should do this, because PSN is free, they could make up some revenue and help pay for their services. If MS wants to make money on ads, they should offer some basic free or almost free Xbox live service. In short, I think its wrong that MS is doing this to its customers just so they can make a bit more money.

benjamin

If the x-box live service was free, I would have no objections to commercials. but I already pay $50 a year, so it is ridiculous that I should have to sit and watch a commercial. However, I don’t mind the commericial if it is with a free game such as in 1 vs 100. Basically if you want me to watch your commerical fine, but give me something in return

Michael

Wow, Article posted Jul. 21, 2009. These ads have been around for at least 6 months now. They’re obviously not as bad as this bunch is making them out to be if people haven’t been noticing them.

And last time I checked, the only thing you are forced to do on XBox Live is agree to the Terms and Conditions.